Bison, or American Buffalo, was an ‘all-purpose resource for the American Indian’ and Bison Tongue was considered the ‘best meat’ on this all-purpose beast. When I recently got my hands on a bison tongue, I created a meal with foods from the North American landscape. Bison Tongue alongside Wild Rice, Cranberries and Mushrooms is a modern take on simple meal components. It is served with a healthy dose of reverence and gratitude, explained in a longer blog post than usual.
A lot of Bison!
Before 1800, there were an estimated 60 million bison in North America; about 400,000 are present today. I first encountered (seemingly out-of-place) bison in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. However, they are probably most well known at Yellowstone National Park, since it has the ‘largest bison population on public lands.’ Yellowstone is also distinguished as the ‘the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.’ And indeed, they are easy to find in the park!
The preservation of bison on public land feels important as bison populations declined prematurely.
A Sacred Relationship
It seems that bison were in relationship with Native Americans since the dawn of time. In the enchanting children’s book Where the Buffaloes Begin, Olaf Baker weaves into his story a native legend about the first buffalo emerging from a sacred lake.
In American Indian Food, Linda Murray Berzok explains how the bison could be enclosed except for a small passage. Scaring the bison out of this area, the “Miami of the Upper Mississippi could slaughter as many as 120 bison a day. This translates into 50,000 pounds of meat, enough to supply a hunter with six pounds daily for 25 years”
Using similar corralling methods, “some hunters were so successful that they killed more than 2,000 bison a year, enough to feed a village of 400 people.”
The American Bison was a staple of the native tribes. At Garden of the Gods State Park in Colorado, bison is described as an “all-purpose resource for the American Indian.” The plains Indians depended on the bison and sadly, the decline of the bison and the plains Indians are intertwined in history.
Decline of the Bison
Linda Murray Berzok describes the decline of bison.
Between 1872 to 1874, the government encouraged white professionals and tourists to slaughter hundreds of thousands of bison for hides and sport. Free ammunition was provided to any hunter on request. After the railroad was built, there was even more sanctioned slaughter because herds of bison held up the trains…
Meanwhile, following 1874, direct conflict with the Native American ensued. The Native Americans were continually defeated, culminating in the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890.
In an 1877 attack described by Murray Berzok ‘federal troops destroyed 400 lodges in a Sioux village along with 500,000 pounds of dried bison meat, a seventy-day supply for the 4,800 residents.’
Bison’s role in healthy soil and land
Yet, the bison left a landscape that ‘holistic management’ farmers are just learning how to reproduce. Herds of ruminants moving across the land allowed grasses to flourish. Ruminants eat, stomp the grasses down, and fertilize the soil as they pass through. They do not stay in one place. This allows the land to rest and regrow as they continue to graze across a large landscape, returning in cycles.
These grasslands, in turn, have deep roots – up to 16 feet! Deep roots sequester carbon. They provide drought resistant landscapes. And their roots provide pathways, oxygen, and nutrients to nourish a soil biome that is literally teeming with life and exhibits intelligence across many species. It transforms nutrients back into plant-available forms and sends these nutrients to plants when and where they need them.
Today, landscapes where grass-fed ruminants are rotationally grazed can mimic the feeding, stomping, fertilizing and resting pattern of the bison. Charles Massy’s experience in Call of the Reed Warbler mimics what I have seen on local farms in the Midwest. Massy describes increased drought resistance on extremely sensitive soil and tangible topsoil growth within a generation using these methods.
Removing the bison allowed private property to flourish in the plains. Yet, generations of large roaming herds of bison are partially responsible for the nutrient-rich soil they left behind. Indeed, bison were integral to the landscape and also provided many utilities to the people that relied on them.
The Whole Animal
Like traditional people in many cultures, Native Americans consumed the whole animal during a bison slaughter. Murray Berzok describes this in her book.
In addition to eating the flesh, the Indians consumed the entrails and organs, drank the blood, sometimes eating the still-warm brains. A typical hunt provided an on-site feast.
She continues to describe a modern account:
A Quaker missionary who lived among the Kiowa Indians wrote, ‘After loading ourselves with meat from the slaughtered animals – many choice bits being eaten raw by my friends – we turned our course toward the north, and arrived at Otter Creek in the middle of the afternoon, where we cooked some meat, and took supper.’
Excess meat was preserved as jerky and pemmican. Yet, beyond the meat, plains Indians found uses for every part of the bison.
All-Purpose Beast and the Best Meat
The Visitor and Nature Center at the Garden of the Gods State Park in Colorado begins to explain how essential bison were to the native people. (The park and interactive exhibit area, which explains the ‘geology, ecology and cultural history of the park’ are definitely worth a visit if you are nearby.)
The entire animal was used by the plains Indians. Bison provided a ‘one-stop shop’ for nourishment, building materials, religious and medicinal supplies, clothing, drums, cooking pots, toys, and more! The scope of creativity and function is impressive.
Note that among the organs, brain and tongue are acknowledged. Brain was, of course, eaten and also serves as the right agent for tanning the hide. Tongue is also singled out as the ‘best meat’.
Indeed, Murray Berzok explains that among the Blackfoot, the hunter who makes the kill gets to keep the tongue and the hide – the most prized items on the animal.
Among the Blackfoot of Montana, when a hunter killed a bison, any tribal member who approached could help himself to meat; if the hunter was along, he could take half the flesh home, leaving the rest for others. If there were two hunters, each was permitted to take a third. The robe and tongue always belonged to the hunter who made the kill. If he brought back meat to the lodge, it was up to the hunter whether to be generous to those who asked for some.
Similarly, in a 1830s memoir Life in the Rocky Mountains I mentioned earlier, Warren Angus Ferris describes how “[We] feasted luxuriously on the delicate [bison] tongues…”
Bison Tongue alongside Wild Rice, Cranberries and Mushrooms
Meanwhile, I wasn’t aware that bison tongue was even something I could find. But it is available online, thanks to Force of Nature!
I think bison tongue could easily replace any tongue recipe. It’s rich and buttery and delicious, like any good fatty cut. Yet, for this meal, I wanted to honor the deep American history of bison and pair it with local foods.
To prepare the bison tongue, I started like I often do, by simmering and peeling the tongue one day and storing it overnight in the fridge. The next day, I sliced and pan-fried the tongue.
To round out the meal, I added wild rice, cranberries, mushrooms and pureed pumpkin. (Any squash would do).
Cranberries served as a substitute for wild berries we have here in late summer (plus, I always stash them in my freezer in the fall to use all year). Rehydrated mushrooms were a stand-in for the porcinis and chanterelles I’ve seen in our woods. Plus, I was able to create a savory sauce by adding the filtered mushroom liquid to a roux.
As always though, let this serve only as inspiration. Get a bison tongue and experiment with the wild and native foods you love! Enjoy!
Bison Tongue alongside Wild Rice, Cranberries and Mushrooms
Notes
See Nourishing Traditions or this online recipe for more thorough directions to presoak the wild rice before cooking.
Ingredients
For the tongue
- 1 bison tongue, simmered
- salt
- lard
- marrow bones
- 2 T parsley, chopped
For the sides
- 1 cup wild rice
- 2 cups (turkey) broth
- salt
- 12 oz bag cranberries
- an orange, squeezed
- 1 t honey, optional
- 1 pie pumpkin, roasted, skinned and blended (or 1 14 oz can pumpkin)
For the mushrooms and sauce
- 1-2 oz dried mushrooms
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 T butter
- 1 T arrowroot or flour
Instructions
To prep the tongue
- A day in advance, place the uncooked tongue in a bowl and rub a tablespoon or two of coarse salt all over. Cover the bowl and leave overnight in the fridge.
- On the next day, rinse the tongue, place in a large pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover it by two inches. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce the heat so a strong simmer remains. Simmer for 3 hours.
- Next, remove the tongue while reserving the broth in the pot. Let cool for a few minutes or rinse under cold water for a moment or two. Using a paring knife in the center or on the edges to get started, peel the thick skin layer off of the tongue. At this point, the tongue can be set in a container, covered with its broth, and reserved for up to three days.
For the marrow bones
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place on baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Use a spoon or the backend of any utensil to scoop or scrape out marrow!
For the sides
- For the wild rice, rinse rice in a mesh strainer and then place in pot with broth. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30-35 minutes, or until there is no liquid remaining and rice is fluffy.
- For the cranberries, add cranberries and 3/4 cup water to a pan. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool. While still warm (but not hot), add the juice from one freshly-squeezed orange and optional honey.
- Warm pureed pumpkin in pan.
For the mushrooms and mushroom sauce
- Rehydrate mushrooms by adding to a pan with 1 cup water. Cover pan and heat to medium-low. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Reserve water/pan juices by scooping mushrooms with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Pour pan juices through a coffee strainer into a cup and reserve liquid.
- In a pan over medium heat, add a tablespoon butter. Wait for the butter to foam and as the foaming resides and butter is just beginning to brown, add a tablespoon flour. Whisk immediately and continue whisking as the mixture firms up and begins to brown. At this point, add a few drops of your mushroom juice and continue stirring. When those first drops have been incorporated, add a few more spoonfuls of juice and continue stirring. Continue until the mushroom broth has been incorporated, remove from the heat and reserve.
To serve the tongue
- Finally, when you are ready to assemble the dish, remove the tongue from its broth. Cut in one-quarter to one-half inch slices, against the grain.
- Meanwhile, add a tablespoon lard to a pan and heat on medium-high heat until the fat is shimmering. Place tongue slices in pan (as many as will fit, but do not crowd) and cook for 2-3 minutes on one side until nicely browned, then flip over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove slices and reserve on a place. Repeat until all the tongues slices have been browned. Note that cooking times on subsequent rounds may be slightly less as the pan continues to heat!
- Prepare the desired sides on a plate. Add warm, seared tongue, garnished with a scoop of marrow. Sprinkle parsley over plate and serve.
Hi Janine,
A very interesting post. Being British much of the history was new to me and sadly, being in Britain probably means that won’t be able to find a Bison tongue. The recipe sounds gorgeous!
To that end I shall assume that an Ox Tongue could be substituted. Even they are not commonly stocked in the butcher’s but I could probably order one. My local farm shop sometimes has them frozen.
Thanks for posting
Paul:-)
Hi Paul,
Absolutely – an ox tongue would work just as well!
Glad you’re here!